By now even your grandmother probably knows that Google has acquired mobile ad network AdMob for $750 million in stock. Here's an excerpt from a post on the acquisition put out by AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui:

The best part of all this is what's next. We are not going away. After our deal with Google closes, we will work together to accelerate the pace of innovation in this area. Our product and engineering teams will keep building great products for all of our customers. Our business development team will keep working to maximize ad revenue for the more than 15,000 mobile Web sites and applications that make up AdMob's publisher network. Our sales teams will keep working with our thousands advertisers to deliver successful campaigns and our marketing group will keep pushing to get the word out about mobile. It's just that now we will be able to do an even better job for all of our customers.

I have one important thank you left and it is for Google. We've been blown away by their entrepreneurial attitude, their speed, and their insight. My management team and I have been lucky enough to spend time with some key people at Google, and we've always walked away excited about our shared values and similar cultures. In all of our interactions we've felt their passion for innovation and new ideas. Obviously this transaction represents only a part of their overall interest in mobile but all of us at AdMob are looking forward to working with them to make sure that the future of mobile is no longer so far away.

"We've been blown away by their entrepreneurial attitude, their speed, and their insight."

Indeed, Google is now at the forefront of mobile display advertising and seemingly moving much faster than its competitors on several fronts. Here are some mobile ad network reach numbers (monthly uniques) compiled by Mobile Marketer from Nielsen data:

1. Millennial Media: 45.6 million
2. Yahoo!: 36.1 million
3. Google: 31.9 million
4. AOL/Platform-A’s Third Screen Media: 28.6 million
5. AdMob: 25.7 million
6. Microsoft: 25.4 million (doesn’t include the new Verizon deal)
7. Jumptap: 23.4 million
8. Quattro Wireless: 23 million

Assuming the accuracy of the numbers, if we combine the Google and AdMob figures it would make Google the ad network with the greatest reach in mobile. Google came late to display advertising online but is now charging ahead in mobile just as the market is picking up. Much of AdMob's inventory is now in apps on the iPhone and Android devices. But that's where the action is from a usage standpoint and that's where the best mobile ad creative is to be displayed -- although mobile Web is getting much better.

One of the reasons Google personnel said they acquired AdMob was to get the team, which has been thinking about mobile and operating in the segment for more than four years. This provides sales, creative and other mobile expertise that plugs a hole for Google.  

The acquisition could trigger a wave of M&A activity as nervous others try to build more scale or as larger players try to add mobile display assets that they believe they will now need to have to compete in the near and medium term. 

Jumptap's CMO Paran Johar said not long ago to me on the phone that they were seeing two and three times the number of RFPs of only a few months ago. It's clear that mobile advertising is gaining steam and crebility and that this acquisition will only further that development. Indeed, Johar said this morning in an email statement:

The announcement is causing tremendous excitement as it validates the enormous potential of mobile advertising. We predicted consolidation in the industry and Admob’s broad high volume business model is highly synergistic for Google. The industry front runner will be determined by who can deliver the most advanced targeting capabilities for better ROI for advertisers and publishers.

Another interesting angle here is Google's potential to create a unified PC-mobile ad buying platform for brands and large advertisers. Mobclix just did something like that in a deal with Advertising.com and Traffic Marketplace. Google has the potential to do it on a much larger scale. 

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Update: Here are some additional Nielsen (September) traffic numbers (minus Google & Yahoo!) provided to me by Quattro: